Baby carriage



Ma 15, 1934. STINSON 1,958,931

BABY CARRIAGE Filed Sept. 25, 1931 1'1 i 9 33 I: 1 CL 16 o o *4. %C% 9 l T JTLLrQn cQR Geo/eye 561115017.

Httqaney Patented May 15 1934 PATENT @FFICE BABY CARRIAGE George Stinson, Gardner, Mass., assignor to Heywood-Wakefield Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application September 25, 1931, Serial No. 565,089

1 Claim.

child horizontally while the child is reclining in the carriage, and one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a simple and easily actuated mechanism by which the foot-well may be moved into its raised position and locked in that position and which also permits ready release of the foot-well from its raised position to allow said foot-well to assume the lowered position. The invention involves the provision of a mechanism which consists of a minimum of parts to permit inexpensive manufacture and installation on the carriage, and which is readily controlled by the person in charge of the carriage without the need for removal of the child within the carriage during the positioning of the foot-well. Other objects and advantages will more fully appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:-

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a carriage embodying the invention, parts being broken away to show the novel construction.

Fig. 2 is a view of the bottom of the carriage body, the running gear having been removed.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures.

' The carriage is of the convertible type having a running gear, indicated generally at 1, which supports the body 2 on springs 3, the latter being connected to the front and rear of the member 4 forming the bottom of the body 2. A handle 5 extends upwardly from the running gear at the back of the carriage and is provided at the top with a crossbar 6 by which the carriage may be propelled.

, The body portion 2 comprises the bottom memher 4, side members 7 and 8 which are secured to and extend upwardly from opposite edges of the bottom member, a back member 10 which is hingedly mounted along the rearward edge of the bottom member 4 and is arranged to be raised or lowered in any suitable manner (not shown),

and a foot-well 11 hingedly mounted on the forward edge of the bottom member 4.

As shown in Fig. 1, where parts of the carriage are broken away, a circular rod 12 in the lower edge of the foot-well and forming an integral part thereof is encircled by a strap member 13 adjacent either end thereof. One end of each strap member extends outwardlyfrom the rod and is attached to the under side of the member 4 along the forward edge thereof, Fig. 2, to provide a hinged support for the foot-well whereby said foot-well may swing from the full line position of Fig. 1, the position which the foot-well assumes when the child in the carriage is reclining, into the dot-dash position of Fig. l, the position which the foot-well assumes when the child is sitting in the carriage.

In order to support the foot-well in either of the two positions shown, a toggle member actuated by the person in charge of the vehicle is provided. As best shown in Fig. 2, a strap member 14 extends across the foot-well on the under side thereof and is secured to opposite edges of said foot-well by securing means 15 which engage side rails of the foot-well. The strip 14 is suitably attached at opposite ends, as by rivets 16 to cross strips 17, through which the securing means 15 extend. The strip 14 is provided substantially centrally thereof with an upstanding lug 18 to which-is pivotally attached, as by a rivet 20, a link 21 forming part of the toggle member.

A pair of bearing members 22 which are secured by fastening means 23 to the under side of the bottom member 4 along the rearward edge thereof form a pivotal mounting for a rod 24. The inner end of the rod is bent at right angles to the main portion to form an outwardly extending arm 25, the latter being flattened on the end to receive a rivet 26 by which the link 21 is connected to the arm 25. Said arm forms the second link of the toggle linkage by which the foot-well is supported in its raised position, as will be pointed out. The outer end of the rod 24 is bent at right angles to the central portion and extends upwardly, as shown in Fig. 1, to provide a lever 27 by which the toggle linkage may be operated, and the end of the lever 27 carries a suitable handle 28 thereon. A washer 3D encircles rod 24 and engages one of the bearing members to hold said rod against lengthwise movement, protuberances 31 formed 0 on the rod preventing movement of the washer along said rod.

From a consideration of Fig. 1, it will be apparent that when the foot-well is in the raised position shown in full lines in the figure the configuration of the foot-well is such that the forward end of the carriage is completely closed, since the inner edges 32 of said well are substantially in engagement with the forward edges 33 of the sides 7 and 8 for the main portion of the carriage, and the under side of the foot-well is substantially in the plane of the bottom member 4. In this position of the foot-well, the toggle linkage comprising link 21 and arm 25 engages the under side of the bottom member 4 as shown in Fig. 1, which acts as a stop to limit the upward movement of the toggle joint, and since pivotal point 26, the central pivot of the toggle joint, is just above a line connecting the pivotal point 20 and the axis of the point 24, the toggle joint is locked automatically and supports the foot-wel positively in its upper position.

Upward or counterclockwise movement of the arm 27 by which the toggle is actuated releases the toggle and allows the foot-well to drop into the position shown in the dot-dash line in Fig. 1 so that the foot-well rests against a portion of the front spring members 3. The foot-well is again returned to its raised position by movement of the handle clockwise (Fig. 1) thereby extending the toggle linkage and locking it in a full line position in Fig. 1. It will be noted that the handle on the upper end of arm 27 is within reach of the person in charge of the carriage, since the arm extends upwardly from the bottom of the carriage adjacent the crossbar 6 by which the vehicle is propelled.

I claim:

In a carriage, a main body portion having a seat section and side sections, an auxiliary body portion pivotally connected thereto, said auxiliary body portion having a foot-well and side sections thereon, a toggle linkage comprising two members pivotally connected together, one of said members being'pivotally mounted on theuiidef'sid of the auxiliary body 'portion" and the other of said members being pivotally mounted on the under side of said main body portion, and means extending upwardly at the side of the main body portion and connected to said other member for operating said toggle linkage to move said auxiliary body portion, said linkage being arranged to support said auxiliary body portion in raised position" when said linkage is extended, said auxiliary body portion in raised position forming with said main 'body'porti'o'n a substantially closed end on'the carriage, the side sections of the body portion being in contact with and forming substantially co-planar e'iitensions of the'side sections of the main body parties, said linkage ngaging one of said 'b'ody'po'r'tions when eig: tended position to prevent release of said linkage.

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